Road to Recovery
by Technical Joe
Summary: Nate doesn't need revenge. He needs peace.


"What's your name sir?"

"Nate. Nathan Ford."

"And why are you here?"

"Don't know. Just showed up."

"Sir, please answer the question."

"That's my answer. You don't want me to lie, do you?"

She looked at him with a cold stare, but gave a small shrug. A gesture Parker is fairly acquainted with. "Fine, let's continue."

_Of all days, I lived to see today. A day in a place I felt the most tense: the therapist office. They said revenge was enough. So, why am...?_

"So, Mr. Ford, what is it that bothers you the most?" she said as she glanced away from him and down on her notepad. He could see she was about to take thorough notes by her posture. He didn't like that.

"Right now, you," he said before taking my sip of black coffee.

She simply smiled in response. "Let's stick to the long term, thank you."

"Sure, do what you want."

_I can see it now. Sophie's cute but irritated face leering at me. Doesn't reflect well on this woman though. That blond hair rolled in a ponytail. Those glasses. The formal suit too? All too tense. Definitely not like my Sophie._

She pushed her glasses up her nose as she let out a small whiff. "I know this isn't easy for you, but I was asked to help. So, please?"

With a grin on his face, he spread out his welcoming arms. "The floor's all yours."

Taken aback, she paused before beaming with excitement. "Oh, okay. We can start then!"

_She probably felt she was a step closer to cracking me. But, sorry to disappoint. The door is still closed shut._

--

"You do know this not going to work?" the hacker said, relaxing in the backseat of Sophie's car.

"Hardison, negativity's not going to work." Sophie said, driving closer to Nate's location.

"Hey, I'm just saying. Nate hasn't been too kind on this sort of thing," he said and then looked to the blond on his right. "What do you think?"

With her evil smile and nonchalant shrug, Parker replied. "He might do fine. That is, if the withdrawal hadn't set in."

Sophie shook her head, letting her hair block her irritated face. Why kid herself? They knew as well as she did that therapy was the first of what will be Nate's nightmares to recovery. She just hoped he'll bear with it. Not like they have to pin him down and-

…actually that's not a bad idea.

"Are we there yet?" Parker asked innocently.

"Yes, just a couple of minutes. You know, you could have a little faith in him. He made it this far, right?" Sophie said, recovering her posture.

Hardison and Parker looked at each other, and with their collective thought, looked at Sophie. "Nope."

She rolled her eyes. "A bunch of help you are."

--

_Thirty minutes has passed. Only thirty minutes? I can't believe… _

"Watching the clock, Mr. Ford?"

"Yes, yes I am," he said, looking back at her.

"Well, that's nice and all, but can we please continue?"

He nodded, "Of course, ma'am, of course."

"How would you describe yourself?"

Nate leaned back and looked towards the ceiling. The answer would come crashing down any minute now. Any…minute…now.

"Mr. Ford?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.

"This."

"Excuse me?"

"This is how I describe myself. Silent, to myself, and always looking to the sky for answers."

"Not exactly on cloud 9, I see."

"I have been. Several times actually."

A small window opened in her mind. "Okay, tell me."

"No thanks."

She sighed and looked at the clock. At this point, she was as anxious as he was to leave. "I'm glad you have some happiness."

He sighed, "Yeah."

"Did it help ease the pain of your son's…"

With a quickness, he looked at her. "Excuse me? Son?"

"I know about the incident. I'm truly sorry."

"Who told you?" he said as he sat up in the chair.

She looked away, feeling the guilt build inside her. "I, I said too much. Can we move on?"

"I rather not."

Several knocks were heard, but neither of them moved. Silence took over before another series of knocks occurred. The therapist stood up and walked to the door. Nate sat and watched her coldly.

"Hello?" she said as she cracked open the door.

"Yes, I'm here to pick up Nate." Sophie replied, pushing strands of hair behind her ear.

"I don't know. I think I overstepped my boundaries." She whispered in a disappointed tone.

Sophie laughed quietly. "We all tend to sometimes with him."

"It's pretty ironic of me asking for help, but, what should I do? I told him that I knew of his son's death."

Sophie paused as her smile simmered to a straight face. "Just let him sit for a while. He'll be fine."

"That's it?"

"Yeah, I didn't understand at first either. But trust me, there's nothing to discuss unless he truly wants to."

"Alright, he has 5 minutes left. He'll be out shortly."

"Thank you." Sophie replied. The therapist closed the door and Sophie stood there, in silence. Parker walked over to her as Sophie turned towards her.

"Is Nate okay?" Parker asked.

"He'll be fine. He might just do better than you thought," she said with a grin.

"If not, you do know you it's our heads, right?"

Sophie patted her on the head. "Kid, wasn't it like that from day one?"

Parker grinned. "Yeah, yeah."

"Go, Hardison might get lonely in the car," she said as she nudged her away.

"Oh yeah? He'll be alright." Parker laughed as she walked away. Sophie watched her walking off. She then felt weak. Her knees nearly gave out to exhaustion as she leaned against the door. Then, as she slid slowly to the ground, she closed her eyes to the world.

_Oh Nate. This is for the best. You'll just have to trust us. We're in this as a family. Remember that._


End file.
